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Reviews For: FTH Group

Category: Amateur Radio Equipment Repair

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Review Summary For : FTH Group
Reviews: 6MSRP:
Description:
Kenwood West Authorized Repair
Product is in production
More Info: https://fthgroupinc.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0063.7
KB7ZPR Rating: 2022-08-08
Looks like a Kenwood TH-D74A is lost Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I made the mistake of sending a broken Kenwood TH-D74A to FTH Group for repair. I made the mistake of using USPS Priority Mail.

According to the front desk receptionist, the week I sent it their receiving dock was shut for a move. So apparently the USPS sent the radio to their front desk. USPS marked it as received. The receptionist says it was not received. So the receptionist says that if the post office is correct it was sent to the wrong address. And I should try to submit a claim for delivering to the wrong address. Even though I have no proof they sent it to the wrong address. The zip code they sent it to is the zip code of the front desk for FTH Group.

And now when I complained about losing a TH-D74A to the receptionist, she said that FTH Group has dropped it's repair contract for all Kenwood amateur equipment; that all future work has to be done by United in New York.

Not happy.
WJ3Z Rating: 2020-07-29
I was not displeased Time Owned: more than 12 months.
So I own a Kenwood TS-480HX. Over 6,000 digital QSO's on the radio and all of a sudden the output power dropped and I thought maybe the finals went in the radio. I sent it off the Kenwood Service Center in Northern California and they use this FTH group for HAM radio repair.

The Radio made it out there in around 5 days. They logged it in and when I checked status after 2 weeks it said "Assigned awaiting repair." The status sat in this state for another 3 weeks. I tried calling multiple times and no one ever answered, you only get an answering machine. I left a message and they wrote me back in email the next day. I figured things were slow because of the COVID outbreak and they confirmed that they were behind. Sarah was very polite and helpful and within another week or so my radio was on the bench and being looked at. Turned out it was not damaged and just needed to be factory reset and firmware updated.

So I was pleased at the $72 bill and the radio was completed. My only complaint I have is their communications with the customer is not the best.
KC3BLF Rating: 2019-06-14
TS 480 Repair Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I screwed up my TS 480 attempting to connect a cable to the IF pins inside. Would not receive or transmit even after a factory reset. Got RMA, returned it UPS. They fixed it in under 2 days, called with repair amount which I paid by CC (included return shipping). Out to California and back from Pennsylvania in about 2 weeks. Not sure what all the bad reviews are about..I thought this service was very good and the price was fine (about 200.00 total, about half of that was shipping).
WY7CDL Rating: 2018-05-04
TM-V71A Filter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had a Kenwood TM-V71a that needed the ceramic filters replaced that were causing poor reception as well as a low tx power output.

Heres the details.

The repair was excellent. Radio works 100%, then why a 3 on the review you ask?

TIME...

From the day they received the until the date it shipped out was over a month. That does not include shipping time!

They were great as far as communications and answering questions and doing the repair. My only problem is the amount of time it took to get it done. The cost was a bit higher than I was expecting but was ok. They charged for 2 hrs of repair time and parts. All out the door shipping both ways It cost $180. Parts were $10. If my soldering skills were better would have done this myself.

All in all the experience with FTH Group was satisfactory.

Scorecard

Repair A+
Time C-
Cost B

K0RS Rating: 2015-12-10
Excellent Service Time Owned: N.A.
My experience with FTH was similar to K2GT. I sent my TS-590 to them for Kenwood's warranty update. Not only did FTH provide the warranty repair, they installed the latest firmware and aligned the radio all at no charge. It took them a couple of days to get the radio checked in after UPS showed it delivered, but to be fair it arrived the day before Thanksgiving. I was able to follow the repair process on FTH's website, from the time it was assigned to a technician through the final QC check. The status of the 590 changed several times a day and FTH only had the radio about 3 days before the repair was complete. After completion, FTH showed when the radio was shipped back to me and provided me with a tracking number. A great experience, all the way through.
K2GT Rating: 2015-08-05
Quick and Right Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I sent my TS-2000 to the FTH Group, Kenwood's West Coast authorized repair facility. It arrived there late Wednesday afternoon, was checked in and showed on their web site Thursday morning. Friday morning I received a call and estimate (less than $100 for an hour labor and minor parts). Two hours later the site showed it had been repaired and was awaiting final check and shipment. It was shipped back Monday morning and arrived in perfect shape and working again. I was totally satisfied. My wife, on the other hand, is not as happy, since I told her it would take weeks to repair and I just had to buy a new radio!